Top five: Offside players in the Premier League

There are few things more infuriating in football than repeat offside offenders; every team seems to have one. That same old striker constantly caught on the wrong side of the opposition's defence, always the apple of the linesman's eye.

The Premier League is littered with world-class attacking talent, but even among England's elite clubs are common culprits of foul flag play.

Some might argue that these sinners are the victims of intelligent tactics, whether it's a high defensive line deployed by a manager, or a pre-meditated training ground offside trap, while others will say that it simply comes down to a forward's ineptitude to hold their run, or read the next phase of play.

The worst offenders in the top-flight this season range from leading talisman, to bit-part players and super subs, with fan favourites and out-of-form fall guys also included.

Robin van Persie is Manchester United's most frequent perpetrator, the £24million summer signing being flagged 37 times in 32 Premier League appearances this season - an average of 1.2 offsides per game, while Javier Hernandez is also up their with the worst of them, even though he's only started seven games for Sir Alex Ferguson this term, being caught 16 times in 17 appearances.

At Stamford Bridge, the much-maligned Fernando Torres is Chelsea's chief miscreant with 27 offside offences in 30 appearances in 2012/13, while Southampton striker Rickie Lambert (34 offsides) and Liverpool's Luis Suarez (38 offsides) both feature among the top ten.

Tottenham Hotspur striker Emmanuel Adebayor is the most flagged player at White Hart Lane this season, being caught offside 15 times in 30 appearances, while the unwanted accolade at Arsenal belongs to Theo Walcott with 17 offences in 26 Premier League games.

Manchester City appear to be much more astute in their attacking play, with Roberto Mancini's most frequent offenders Carlos Tevez and Sergio Aguero having been flagged offside just 21 times between them, with each player having made 27 and 25 appearances for the reigning champions this campaign.

Click through the tabs - above or below - to see the five most flagged players in the Premier League this season with the worst averages per game, based on stats provided by WhoScored.com.

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